What kind of Whoville are you decorating?
by GreenIsMyWarPaint
Summary: "How do you know my name?" She asked and he smirked. "Name tag." He replied tapping his chest just above his heart as he walked out of the store. Clarke works in a shitty little decor shop. Tumblr prompt:You always come into my store and buy wreaths like seriously what are you doing with all those wreaths? Modern Day Holiday AU. Bellarke.
1. Sinlair's Decor

_CRASH_

Clarke moaned as she righted herself. Stupid boxes. Stupid wreaths. Stupid everything. Brushing some stray tinsel off her pants she stood assessing the damage. Not too bad, she had only managed to knock 8 of the stupid wreath boxes over. Sighing to herself she because to pick them up when a pair of tan hands began to help her.

"Need a hand?" A warm voice asked and Clarke looked up to see a very attractive pair of warm eyes looking at her.

"No, I'm ok. Just a bit clumsy." She laughed a little too breathlessly for her tastes. "Can I help you with anything?" She asked, straightening her name tag. The man chuckled down at her.

"Yeah actually. I need to find a wreath for my apartment and I'm not exactly sure what to look for." He mumbled slightly embarrassed, pink dusting his many freckles. Clarke smiled warmly.

"Well thats what I'm here for. What are the main colours of your apartment? Or are you wanting the traditional colours?" She asked and he starred at her. Clarke sighed.

"What seems to be the colour you see most around your apartment?" She asked and he gave it a moment of thought before answering.

"Uh, black? Or silver?" He answered rubbing the back of his neck and Clarke chuckled.

"Well, our Halloween stuff is on clearance if you wanna look for a black or silver wreath, but maybe you're better off with the traditional red and green one?" She suggested and his shoulders sagged with relief.

"Ok, thanks. Which one would you recommend?" He asked gesturing to the pile Clarke had been stacking before he came over. Clarke laughed, handing him the box she had been bout to stack.

"This one is fairly basic, can't really go wrong with it." She laughed walking with him over to the till.

"Are you sure?" he asked nervously and Clarke shot him a pointed look. He laughed.

"Right, sorry." He said kinda sheepishly as she rung up the wreath. She shook her head as she handed him the bag.

"No worries. Have a nice day!" She said with a smile.

"You too Clarke." Clarke's eyes widened.

"How do you know my name?" She asked and he smirked.

"Name tag." He replied tapping his chest just above his heart as he walked out of the store. Clarke flushed with embarrassment.

"Griffin! What am I paying you for if you're just gonna stand around! Get back to work!" Sinclair yelled from the storage room. The store itself was pretty small and relatively empty during this time of day, but give it another 20 minutes as everyone got off work the store would be flooded with people.

Clarke sighed for what felt like the billionth time today. She'd better get back to those boxes.

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><p><strong>Ok! So I promise to write another chapter soon! I know that it's super early for Christmas-y posts but I'm feeling the Bellarke love and I really just wanted to make this happen. The original idea was a tumblr prompt and I just wanted this to be a thing so here is the thing!<strong>

**Please review and let me know if you liked the thing so I will know to continue said thing.**

**~Cherri Doll**


	2. Bah Humbug

Clarke Griffin by no means hated Christmas. She used to really love the holiday.

Her father was _very_ into the holidays. Full blown haunted houses on Halloween, the full ham on Easter complete with egg hunts and chocolate rabbits, and of course, the full blown sleigh that he dragged out of the shed every year to put on the roof of the house complete with 9 tiny reindeer. Clarke still smiles when she hears bells in the air, reminiscing of the time spent standing on her father's toes dancing to "White Christmas" while her mom baked up a storm in the kitchen (Her mother was no great baker, but every time December hits Clarke finds herself craving the taste of slightly burnt sugar cookies). Clarke's Christmases had always been cheerful, she wasn't spoiled but she never was disappointed on December 25th.

Until her father passed away on march 27th, one week after her birthday. The mighty Jake Griffin, that had hand built her a tree house with a working door in their backyard, killed in a car crash. It was the stupidest thing.

Abigail Griffin being the head surgeon at North West Hospital in Seattle, chose to ensure the safety of her only child, rather than risk the surgery on her husband that had a high risk of failure. By the time Clarke woke up in the hospital nearly two weeks later he was already gone.

Clarke had long since accepted that he was gone, but whether she could accept her mother's decision or apology, Clarke wasn't sure. At the very least, it would take a long time. So when Clarke graduated high school she decided to abandon her career in the medical field and study art. She wanted to be a high school art teacher. After helping out Charlotte, the little girl that lived next door, Clarke decided that she wanted inspire kids the way that her teacher, Mrs. Kane had. She moved out of her child hood home in Seattle and found an apartment with her best friend Raven Reyes in Ark, Oregon. Population 2,398.

And that was how she found herself stuck in this tiny town, in the middle of almost no where, driving back and forth from Oregon State in her shitty Nisan Altima through out the week, and working at this tiny hole-in-the-wall shop on 5th and Main. Minimum wage was enough to live off if she budgeted carefully and her step-father paid half her rent for her anyways. Selling plastic bulbs and ornaments to people definitely wasn't her favourite thing to do, but she figured she had it better that Raven who was working with Wick in the auto shop on 4th and Peach st. Not that Wick was a bad guy, but his unashamed flirting with Raven was painfully obvious to everyone _except_ Raven.

Clarke unwound her scarf from around her neck and hung her red beanie on the her hook in the back of the shop, hanging up her purse and her jacket, she grabbed her red vest and walked out of the back store room looking for Sinclair.

He was an OK boss, but when he asked you to do something he wanted it done yesterday. Not finding her boss, Clarke flipped the sign on the door to "Open", grabbed her sketch book, and sat behind the counter. It was only 9, and no one would really be entering the store until at least 11. Thursdays were not very exciting times for_ Sinclair's Decor_. Grabbing a pencil Clarke began to draw.

She's only been doing portraits for 6 months, deciding it was time for a change from the scenery she was so accustomed to. Wells, her childhood sweetheart, had always told her that everything she drew should be in it's very own personal art gallery and when they were 8 he tried to put up everything she drew in her tree house to surprise her with her own gallery. Until the wind blew in all out of the window and they ended up picking up papers for 45 minutes while she laughed at him. Most of her art supplies then and now had come from him. Charcoal, pencils, crayons, even a cute tiny set of water colour paints and a specialty paint brush with water in the handle for her travels. That tiny set of travel paints never left her purse and Wells was always proud to show her off to everyone, much to her bemusement and embarrassment.

Clarke's head popped up from her latest picture, a drawing of a red ornament she had balanced against her empty coffee cup on the counter, when she heard the ding of the door bell. Imagine her surprise when the same man from yesterday wandered in, rubbing his hands together from the cold. Shutting her book she rose and stretched her back. Stupid uncomfortable stool that made her butt hurt if she sat too long.

"Hey, can I help you?" _again_, she added in her head and the mans eyes snapped to meet her. Clarke shivered as a tingle ran down her spine. _'What an intense dude, he knows this isn't a battle field right?'_

"Yeah. Your stupid wreath was wrong." he snapped and Clarke groaned internally.

"I'm sorry, how was it wrong?" she asked as politely as she could. The man scrubbed a hand down his face.

"My sister didn't like it, said that it didn't go with the apartment or some stupid shit like that I don't know, look I just need to find a new one for her." he groaned and Clarke grimaced.

"Ok, well would you rather have a red or green one?" she asked and he shrugged.

"Green I s'pose." he mumbled and Clarke walked over to the display and grabbed her favourite wreath from the self.

"This one is my favourite. Did you want to exchange the other one for this?" She asked and he looked down.

"I forgot the other one at the apartment." he said quietly to the floor. Clarke laughed.

"Well, you can always come back?" She suggested and he glared at her.

"It's fine. I'll just take it he griped, stalking over to the till. Clarke rolled her eyes. She was so not getting paid enough by the hour to put up with some pms-ing asshole.

"That'll be $17.99." she told him putting the wreath in a plastic bag.

"That's robbery." he grouched, tapping his debit card against the machine. Clarke shrugged.

"I didn't make the prices, nor did I forget a perfectly exchangeable wreath at home." She said pointedly and he glared at her again.

"Whatever Princess. I had better things on my mind." he snapped.

"Really, princess? Where the hell did that come from?" She asked, with an eye brow raised and he rolled his eyes like it was obvious.

"The Cinderella sticker. I gotta call you something." he mocked, tapping the same spot he had yesterday when he reminded her of her name tag. Clarke flushed, the sticker had been from Charlotte, when Clarke had tried to visit home last month.

"You could call me by my name. That worked just fine yesterday." She reminded him as she grit her teeth. He seemed to sense her irritation and smirked, a few dark curls spilling over his brow and into his eyes.

"Whatever you say Princess." He said with a wave of his hand as he stalked out of the store.

Clarke clenched her jaw. What an ass.

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><p><strong>OK! Chapter two! let me just say that Clarke needed some back story. And so I wrote. :p I actually lost the first half of the chapter the first time that I wrote it and had to do it again but I think I'm happier with the edit that I got this time. So please leave a review and let me know that you loved it! ;)<strong>

**~CherriDoll**


	3. Pumpkin Spice

Clarke had been in a mood all day after that customer.

What a prick? As if he couldn't find anything more demeaning to call her than princess. Even her Dad had never called him his princess.

(She had always been his little peanut because when her mother accidentally discovered her pregnancy she was only a few weeks along. Clarke had only been the size of a peanut.)

Grumbling, she grabbed her sketchbook in efforts to keep drawing, but she suddenly had very little interest in the ornament she had been trying to capture of paper. Sighing she shut her book and propped her head on her hand on the counter.

This was going to be a long shift.

* * *

><p>Unlocking the door to her shared apartment, Clarke dropped her keys on the bowl on the side table next to the door. It was like Raven was a stray cat because the second Raven heard the click of metal on ceramic, she pounced.<p>

"Clarkey! You're never gonna guess whats up!" She grinned and Clarke groaned. Raven only got this way on special occasions. Those occasions usually meant that Clarke was about to get drug out somewhere in heels and watch every guy at one the scene try and go home with her friend. While sometimes amusing, mostly just boring and uncomfortable.

"Please tell me we aren't going clubbing. Or dancing. Or drinking in general." She moaned dropping her bag on the floor. Raven stuck out her bottom lip.

"C'mon thats no fun! You just sit around and study then go to work at that shitty little store. Don't you wanna go have some fun?" Raven begged, clasping her hands together in front of her chest and sticking out her bottom lip.

"Raven I'm honestly too exhausted for fun. And there was this real asshole at work and honestly I just wanna crack open a bottle of that shitty Copper Moon and watch Ted Talks all evening." Clarke said, exasperatedly as she sagged her shoulders. Raven grimaced sympathetically.

"OK. Maybe we can go check out that new pub another time?" She suggested and Clarke gave a sigh of relief.

"Thanks Rae. I swear I'll make it up to you. I just had a really shit day today." Raven laughed.

"Yeah, you seem to be having more and more of those." Clarke chuckled as she threw her coat on one of the bar stools at the breakfast bar.

"Tell me about it."

"So tell me about this asshole from work. Was it another flustered soccer mom?" Raven grinned and Clarke threw her head back and laughed.

"Nah," She said grabbing a bottle of their cheap wine from the cupboard. "Some dude, maybe our age? came in yesterday looking for a wreath, so I sold him one. then he came back today on his period because apparently "The wreath was wrong and his sister didn't like it"." Clarke quoted in her meanest face. This time it was Raven's turn to throw her head back and laugh.

"Wow, sounds like a piece of work. On the upside you have class tomorrow!" She grinned and Clarke smiled.

Class for her was one of the better parks of the week. She really only went 4 times a week before or after work and tomorrow was Art History. It wasn't her favourite class but there was a cute guy in that class that had seemed to take a liking to her.

"Now c'mon, we need to watch us some Firefly." Raven stated, grabbing Clarke's had and 2 glasses and leading her over to the couch. Clarke groaned.

"Raven, come on, the medical info in that show is so flawed!"

"Look just because they're using future tech doesn't mean it's flawed. It just means we haven't discovered it yet! And besides! The Zero G is the best part! It's the only show to get it accurate that there isn't sound in space!" Raven protested and Clarke sighed. At least she would have her cheap box wine to keep her happy.

* * *

><p>The next morning Clarke got up at 8. She groaned at her alarm clock and slammed the button. She had an hour before class and she already felt like that wasn't enough a towel she hopped in the shower and washed her hair, letting the scalding water soother her muscles and redden her skin. Stepping out of the shower and wrapping the towel around herself she brushed her teeth and ran into her room to grab her clothes. She could hear Raven start to get up and she grimaced at the sight of her unruly hair. She quickly brushed it and threw her black converse on. Still not satisfied with her hair she grabbed a hair tie and began braiding her hair back in a french braid off to the side.<p>

Her mom always braided it like that when she was younger, and out of habit she kept braiding it like that.

As she walked out into the living room she grabbed her bag and an apple as Raven walked out of her room.

"Mornin' Sunshine." Clarke teased and Raven gave her the death stare. Clarke grinned. She only called Raven that when Raven seemed to be at her most irritable. The first time Clarke called Raven anything other than her name was in 9th grade when Clarke had called her a "Pretty Bird". Raven had flipped a shit and demanded that Clarke never call her that ever again. it wasn't until years later that she learned that "Pretty Bird" had been the name coined for her by her abusive step-mother, Nigel.

"Shut up Picasso." Raven mumbled, making her way over to the coffee machine. Clarke chuckled, as she grabbed her jacket and her keys.

"I'll be home latee tonight. Sinclair asked me to close up shop." Clarke called over her shoulder as she opened the door.

"Paint something amazing!" Raven called and Clarke laughed.

"It's Art history today!" She said as she shut the door.

* * *

><p>The drive from Ark to Corvallis only took about half an hour. Clarke was pleased that she has left early enough to pull into a drive in Starbucks and grab a coffee before leaving town. Ark was still tiny compared to Corvallis or Seattle but Clarke lover the small town feel. It made her feel safe and the comforting woods of Oregon made her feel more at home that the towering sky scrapers of Seattle ever did.<p>

Clarke grimaced when she noticed the menu had changed. It was only November 17th and Starbucks had already changed to it's full blown candy cane craze.

"Welcome to Starbucks how can I help you?" A perky young voice chirped.

"Hey, do you guys still have any pumpkin spice lattes?" Clarke asked as she crossed her fingers.

"Yeah we do! But only for a little while till the pumpkin runs out." The voice said and Clarke grinned.

"Sweet, can I get a grande latte and a chocolate muffin?" she asked, happy that her day was off to a great start.

"That'll be $6.89. Pull up to the first window."

"Thanks." Clarke said as she pulled up, to see a very young brunette at the window. The girl opened the window and moved to hand Clarke the debit machine.

"Here you g- shit! I mean, uh, sorry!" the girl squeaked. and Clarke laughed reaching out and somehow managed to catch it before it fell.

"It's cool. Octavia?" She said reading the girls name tag. Octavia blushed.

"Sorry, I'm new here. Second day. Can you tell?" She said shyly and Clarke laughed.

"Not at all. You're doing great! But if you could keep me in constant supply of pumpkin spice that'd be phenomenal." She winked and Octavia laughed.

"I know right? I'm not sure why it's always in such demand but it's so good! It's still November! We shouldn't be worried about "peppermint mocha's" for at least another 2 weeks!" Octavia protested.

"Exactly!" Clarke gasped and the two girls laughed before Octavia handed Clarke her coffee.

"Here you go! have a great day!" Octavia beamed and Clarke grinned.

"You too!" She waved as Clarke drove off to University.

* * *

><p><strong>OK! Chapter 3 done! So excited that you guys are liking this story. I'm trying to get all my ideas down before I do anything else and I set the story a little bit back from Christmas just to make sure that we'd have enough time to play around and meet the characters. I have no idea how long this story is going to be because I've just started having a lot of ideas and feelings about where I want this to go. Originally i figured around 5 or 6 chapters but now I'm thinking maybe longer? Hopefully that'll be ok with you guys ;)<strong>

**Anyways I'm super excited about The 100 reunion because right now it's only 2014-11-19 for me so I know that when this comes out the reunion episode will have already aired but I'm super pumped! Everyone is loosing their mind over that hug so this'll be a great episode! **

**Anyways hope you guys like the story so far. Remember to leave a review with any suggestions or ideas that you want to see in the future and I'll do my best! :)**


	4. Roller Coaster

As Clarke walked into Art history, she spotted Finn.

Finn Collins was an interesting character to say the least. He had bumped into her on the first day spilling coffee on one of her favourite scarves, then when she told him off he had the nerve to tell her that "the beans in her coffee probably weren't picked ethically anyways". He had gotten under her skin and she hadn't talked to him in a week or two but he talked to her. He sat close to her in class, tired to make it up to her by getting her a new coffee, but Clarke had been irked and inherited her father's stubbornness.

Sitting down away from him she groaned as he grabbed his book and wandered over to sit next to behind her.

"Morning Blondie." He chucked and Clarke bit her tongue. She had been too annoyed to tell him her name when he had spilt coffee on her so she had been maturely ignoring him.

"So I guess today you aren't gonna talk either?" He teased and Clarke ground her teeth.

"Why do you care so much!" She snapped and Finn's eyes widened.

"So you can talk!" He said, almost amazed and Clarke groaned.

"Yes I can. But I'm not interested in talking to _you_." She snapped. Finn smiled almost sheepishly.

"Well thats just too damn bad Princess. Because I'm interested in talking to you." he grinned and Clarke glared at him.

"Don't. Call. Me. Princess." She snapped and grabbed her things.

"You don't like being called Princess, do you Princess?" Clarke was just about to rip his head off when a voice disrupted their pathetic excuse of a conversation.

"Hey Clarke!" A boy named Jasper called. Clarke faked a warm smile.

"Hey guys! Mind if I sit with you?" She asked sweetly and Jasper blushed. His friend, a guy she was pretty sure was named Monty, shoved his shoulder.

"Uh, yeah sure! Yeah no yeah!" Jasper stuttered and Clarke laughed. Flipping her hair in Finn's direction, she waltzed herself and sat right between the two boys, who conveniently were already sitting in a crowded area. Finn frowned when he could no longer sit next to her.

"So, how's your week going so far?" Monty asked and Clarke grinned at him.

"It had a rough start, but so far today has been fantastic."

* * *

><p>Clarke sighed as she threw her vest on over her old Johnny cupcakes shirt. Finn had tried to talk to her on the way out of class and she had managed to be more civil this time, but she didn't think that she would becoming best friends with him any time soon. deciding that she was feeling a bit more needy than normal, she pulled into the Starbucks in Ark.<p>

Opening the door Clarke was relieved to see that the Starbucks was almost totally empty except for maybe two or three people in the entire shop, but Clarke grinned when she saw the same dark haired girl form this morning.

"Hey Octavia!" he smiled and the girl whipped around, grinning when she saw Clarke.

"Hey Pumpkin Spice!" She called and Clarke laughed. "I'll be with you in a sec!" Octavia called as she disappeared behind the door leading to the back. Clarke grinned and sat herself down at a small table with large comfy chairs next to the window. She stared out the window in deep thought. She had about half an hour before she needed to be at the shop, and she wasn't sure what brought her here (Other than the potential coffee) to see Octavia but the girl was sweet and seemed nice.

"Here you go! Now whats on your mind?" Octavia asked sitting down opposite her. Clarke looked to see another grande latte and she smiled gratefully.

"Not much. How's work?" She asked sipping the coffee. Octavia grimaced slightly.

"It's not too bad. Although I did have to remake a frappe _twice_ because "It was too cold for Roma"." Octavia groaned and Clarke nodded sympathetically.

"I know what you mean. I work in retail and I had to sell two wreaths to this guy, who was a complete ass the second time, all because "the first one was wrong"." Clarke snorted and Octavia laughed.

"Wow I'll take making crappy lattes. Hey my shift is almost over, so I gotta head back to the counter." Octavia said as she started to get up. Clarke stood and fished around in her pocket to pay for the coffee but Octavia put a hand up.

"It's fine. It's on me, you looked like you could use it." She smiled and Clarke blushed.

"You'll have to let me pay another time." Clarke insisted and Octavia laughed.

"Sure! And while you're at it you can pay for mine too." Clarke grinned at the other girl.

"See you around Clarke!" Octavia waved. Clarke waved back as she walked out the door.

"Wait, how did you know my name?" She asked stupidly. Octavia snorted loudly.

"Your name tag dumb ass!" She said tapping her chest right above her heart. Clarke blushed and prayed that the floor would open and swallow her whole.

"Oh, yeah. Right." She mumbled and Octavia laughed her way back to the counter.

* * *

><p>Clarke's day felt like a roller coaster, but she was definitely feeling better after her free latte. After all who wouldn't. Sitting behind the counter she pulled out her sketchbook and picked up drawing the ornament from yesterday but she wasn't able to position it quite the same. Sighing she flipped to a new page and decided to start drawing something else.<p>

Sketching her outline for the face, she started drawing long dark hair and smiling blue eyes, she had only gotten hair down when she heard the door chime.

"Hi can I help you?" Clarke asked before looking up.

"I don't know, can you Princess?" A voice sneered and Clarke paled.

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><p><strong>Wow. #sorrynotsorry for leaving here like this. but there you go 4th chapter. I've gotten so many positive reviews for this story and I'm super excited. I hope everyone watched the reunion episode last night. Wow was that fucked up. Anyways I'm considering changing the rating for this story to M. So if it disappears off the K listing sometime in the future, you know why. But yeah. Hope you're enjoying the story! :)<strong>


	5. Advent Candles

Clarke's eyes shot up to see the dark haired man again. Clarke gave it her all to not glare, but she's horribly afraid that she might have slipped.

"I'm sorry, but what now?" she asked exasperatedly and he glared.

"I need another wreath." He mumbled. Clarke threw her hands up in frustration.

"Ok fine. What are you looking for and please tell me that you _actually_ brought the other one to exchange it this time because if you complain about the prices again I _swear_ to God I'm gonna beat you with a candy cane light." The man seemed to have shrunken away a bit but her turned back to with, eyes just as fierce as her own.

"Look _Princess_, I just need a stupid wreath for my stupid apartment. My sister wanted another one for something stupid called an avent or something, look I don't know! Are you gonna find one for me or not?" He growled and Clarke rolled her eyes.

"It's called an 'advent'. And fine I'll help." She groaned. The room was filled with a tense silence before Clarke sighed.

"Do you want something to match the other ones?" She asked and he shrugged.

"Whatever you think will look best." he said and she rolled her eyes. Walking over to the shelves she grabbed a red and gold wreath with 4 prongs for candles along the side.

"Here, you put the candles on the prongs here, then you light them every Sunday." She said handing him the wreath.

"Wher-Ow!" The man yelped. Trying to take the wreath he ended up pricking himself on one of the prongs. A small drop of blood began to form on his thumb.

"Oh! Here let me help." Clarke apologized as she rushed behind the counter to grab a tissue and a band aid. The man grumbled and swore under his breath as he walked over to the counter. Clarke inspected the nick and wiped the blood away with a tissue before putting the band aid on his hand. She couldn't help but notice how his hands dwarfed hers, large and calloused, while hers were small, soft, and pale.

"Thanks." he said begrudgingly and Clarke looked away.

"You're welcome." she mumbled back. "Anything else?" She asked and he looked away.

"Uh, I don't have any candles at my apartment." he said quietly and Clarke rolled her eyes.

"Of course not. Here," she said grabbing 3 pink candles and a purple one.

"You light one every Sunday but you light the purple one last, then you light them all on Christmas Eve." She instructed handing him the candles.

"Why the hell is this a thing? And why is only one purple?" He asked and Clarke threw her head back and laughed.

"I don't know! You're the one buying them, shouldn't you already know why?" She chuckled and he glared at her, but she couldn't feel any malice.

"No. I'm only buying these for my sister." he grumbled and Clarke grinned.

"Well, even though you're a complete ass, you have a lucky sister." She chuckled and he looked away, but Clarke could see him trying desperately to keep from smiling. Clarke said nothing about it as she rang up the items.

"That'll be-"

"Look don't tell me OK? I don't wanna know." He groaned tapping his debit card again. Clarke laughed again.

"Sure thing there- wait you never told me your name." She said and He smirked.

"Blake." he answered, then a puzzled look came across his face as he looked down.

"Who is that?" he asked gesturing to Clarke's sketch she had forgotten about on the counter. Clarke blushed wildy and slammed the book shut.

"No one! It's nothing." She said rather quickly and he smirked again. Dammit, Clarke just wanted to slap that cocky over-confident look right off of his face.

"Sure thing there Princess."

"It's Clarke." She corrected firmly and he let out a deep chuckle.

"Whatever you say." He sassed, heading towards the door.

"Hey Blake! First advent is this Sunday!" She called behind him and he waved his hand over his shoulder before shutting the door behind him. Clarke groaned.

She thought he was attractive, didn't she?

* * *

><p>Clarke slammed the door to her apartment shut.<p>

"Hey Raven I'm home!" She called but received no answer.

"Rae?" Clarke then felt a buzzing in her pocket.

_'Hey Picasso. On a date. Don't worry, I won't bring him home ;) He's cute but not that cute yet. See you later!'_ Clarke chuckled, as she put her phone away. Grinning at the idea of have the place to herself, she grabbed the rest of the Copper Moon bottle that they hadn't finished last night and plopped herself on the couch with her sketchbook and the remote. Grey's Anatomy re-runs, here she comes.

As Clarke sat on the couch working on her portrait of Octavia, she started to drift in thought. Not about anything in particular, but she began to think of her classes and of Raven. Eventually her thoughts led her back to her home.

She'd have to consider going to see her Mom again. Though this wouldn't be her first Christmas bailing on the woman, this would be her Mom's first Christmas as a married woman in 4 years. Her step-father wasn't a bad person, but Marcus Kane had the tendency to stick to the rules only when it suited him, and as a retired cop now working as a consultant, it made him kind of an asshole. Clarke knew that she would probably have to go see them at least once, but that didn't mean that she would like it.

"Hey Picasso! I'm home!" Raven called happily and Clarke grinned.

Raven sounded tipsy.

"Hey there Sunshine. How you feeling?" Clarke asked as Raven stumbled through the doorway, kicking off a boot.

"I'm _soooooo_ good Picasso! He was _super_ romantic." Raven grinned and Clarke laughed.

"OK sweetie well c'mon, why don't we go get you tucked in for bed." Clarke said gently, draping one or Raven's arms over her shoulder. moving them towards Raven's room, Raven started giggled uncontrollably.

"He's got this floppy hair that just floops to the sides Clarkey. it's pretty great hair." Raven slurred and Clarke laughed.

"Maybe I'll have to draw him one day." She said and Raven suddenly got very serious.

"Clarke I love you, but I'm not sure that even you're artistic genius could do it justice." Raven said as she flopped onto the bed." Clarke pretended to pout.

"Fine! I was going to bring you some water but forget it now." Clarke said pretending to leave.

"Wait! I'm sorry!" Raven called out and Clarke grinned.

"Apology accepted. I'll be right back." Clarke said as she walked out of the room. Returning with a pitcher of water and a glass, she found Raven already passed out face down on the bed. Rolling her eyes, Clarke set the water down and pulled off Raven's other boot.

"Night Rae." She said quietly as she shut the door behind her.

Shutting the TV off and grabbing her sketchbook, Clarke made her way to her own room, telling herself that she wasn't excited at the idea of Blake stopping by the shop tomorrow.

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><p><strong>Bwahahaha chapter updates. I'm really in love with this chapter, it was so much fun to write! So if you loved it too remember to review and let me know! :)<strong>


	6. Beauty

Clarke woke up with a groan. She was definitely too tired to roll herself out of bed. Rolling over and looking at the clock she grimaced.

6:15 am. She didn't have to be at work for another four hours. But once she woke up in the morning, Clarke was never one to fall back asleep. Deciding to try and make the best of it she rolled herself out of bed and into the bathroom, hoping some hot water would motivate her to get moving.

Letting the hot water roll down her back and soothe her muscles Clarke sighed. She had work today then class tomorrow. Saturday classes were probably her favourite. She only knew Jasper and Monty in her Visual Arts class and they were going to be working on drawing models. She wasn't sure how excited she was at the thought of drawing someone nude but she was excited none the less. Rinsing her hair out she shut the hot water off and stepped out, wrapping a towel around herself.

She quietly snuck the bathroom and into her room, taking a seat at her desk and opening her laptop. She didn't have many people in the way of Facebook friends. Just her graduating class and a few people here and there. Jasper and Monty had been the first two people to add her from Uni, and Finn had been trying to add her but she had been successfully ignoring him. She didn't have the heart to block him.

After deleting all her requests to "Come play Candy Crush!" (Seriously what the hell was with that game?), she noticed the time. She had 2 hours before needing to be at the shop. Shivering a little she got up and threw on a pair of blue skinny jeans and a green and white baseball shirt. Deciding on a pony tail today instead of her regular braid. After fighting for a bit and trying to get the small wisps of side bangs out of her face she decided to give up and go find some breakfast.

Raven hated Clarke's cooking. Mostly because Raven was a protein shake and orange in the morning kinda girl, and Clarke was more into the full on fry up. Her Dad had been the best Sunday breakfast maker ever and even though it was only Friday, Clarke decided to splurge.

Grabbing eggs, bacon, and a pan she set off to work, making sure to grab out the supplies for a protein shake for when Raven woke up. Clarke was just plating things when Raven emerged.

"That smells amazing." She mumbled and Clarke grinned.

"Morning Sunshine! How'd you sleep?" she laughed and Raven let out a small laugh herself.

"Not too bad. Woke up sometime in the night. Thanks for the water by the way. That was a heaven sent." She groaned sitting herself at the breakfast bar.

Clarke grabbed out a second plate and began to dish up for Raven too. Raven only really ever liked Clarkes cooking drunk or hung over.

"How's your head?" Clarke asked.

"S'OK, I guess. I have a bit of a headache but nothing I wouldn't get from Wick." She joked and Clarke smiled. The two ate in relative silence before Clarke got up and began to put her plate in the dish washer.

"Nah don't worry about it. I got it." Raven said taking her plate for her. Clarke shrugged and thanked her before throwing her boots on and grabbing her jacket and a white scarf.

"I'm gonna head out, do you want me to bring anything home tonight?" She asked and Raven shook her head.

"I'm good. Have fun at work!" Raven smiled.

"Will do!" Clarke called as she shut the door behind her.

Starting up her car Clarke drove over to the Starbucks before work. Maybe Octavia would be there again and she could pay for her coffee.

Walking in she sniffed as the sudden change from cold to warm made her nose itchy. Sure enough, a bundle of dark hair and green waved at her from the counter.

"Hey Clarke!" Octavia smiled and Clarke grinned back.

"Morning! Can I get the usual?" she asked and Octavia smiled sadly.

"Yours will be the last one. We're practically out of the pumpkin spice." Clarke frowned too.

"Oh well. It was nice while it lasted right?" Clarke joked and Octavia laughed.

"Yeah. Let me finish up your drink then I can take my break!" She said happily and Clarke laughed. Octavia walked out from behind the counter and handed Clarke her latte, holding one of her own as well.

"Are you headed off to work again?" Octavia asked sipping her drink and Clarke nodded.

"Yeah. I have tomorrow off though for school. Speaking of which are you studying anything?" She asked and Octavia cocked her head to the side.

"What do you mean?"

"Like classes? What are you studying?" Clarke rephrased and Octavia's eyes widened a bit before she started giggling.

"No no! I'm only in high school! I mean, I graduate this year, but no I'm taking high school classes." Octavia laughed and Clarke laughed too.

"Oh wow then. You're still just a baby. I graduated 2 years ago. I thought you were my age!" Octavia beamed.

"Yeah I get that a lot. People say I'm mature for my age. Which I don't get because I'm pretty weird. I feel so much younger than everyone." She admitted and Clarke grinned.

"Well there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, I always feel like I'm a tiny old woman in a 19 and a half year old body." Octavia started laughing again.

"What are you studying then Clarke?" She asked sipping her drink again and Clarke stole another sip before responding.

"I'm studying to be an Art Teacher. I don't need a teaching degree to teach at Ark Secondary because they mostly just want me to have a Fine Arts degree, and since that's what I was taking before I went to the school and asked about the Art Department, I made a deal with the principal there and he's going to let me teach there in a few years when I'm done my degree." Clarke smiled and Octavia's eyes widened.

"You're an artist? That's so cool!" She babbled and Clarke chuckled, blushing a bit.

"Yeah, it's pretty fun. But tomorrow we're drawing nude models and I'm not sure how excited about that I am." Clarke said with a slight grimace. Octavia laughed.

"Well I'm sure you'll be amazing at it!" Clarke scoffed.

"You haven't even seen me draw anything!" she protested as Octavia shook her head.

"Nah I got a good feeling about you. I think that you'll be great at it. Besides you can show me your drawings next time you come in yeah? And we can laugh about those naked models." Octavia winked and Clarke grinned. This was the start of a great friendship.

"My break's almost over so I'm gonna head back. See you tomorrow?" Octavia asked and Clarke nodded.

"I'll try to stop by after classes." She smiled, handing Octavia the change for their drinks. Octavia grinned.

"You know, you're a good friend Clarke. I'll see you later ok!" Octavia smiled as she scuttled back to the counter. Clarke blushed, before tightly winding her scarf around her neck and heading back to her car.

* * *

><p>Nude models, Clarke decided, were most definitely not her thing. After drawing 3 large men and 2 women, Clarke was sufficiently pink. Never before had she blushed so much. not that Clarke had any issues with nudity or her own body for that matter (Even though she knew she was flawed. It was a constant battle between loving herself one day, and only being able to see flaws the next.), something about staring at someone else's body and not being intimate with them felt strange. She couldn't wait to go back to scenery.<p>

Breathing in deeply the forest air or Ark, she smiled. She would show Octavia her portrait today. Clarke had decided that maybe even showing her would be OK. Clarke wasn't sure if Octavia would get irritated or creeped out by Clarke drawing her, but based off her response to Clarke telling her that she was an artist she hoped it would be OK. maybe she's even pose and let Clarke finish the picture. Clarke had gotten all the shading in the face done, but Clarke felt like the eyes were off. Octavia's eyes were such an interesting shade of blue, a clarity like ice that was difficult to capture in graphite. So Clarke had opted to colour the irises in, leaving the rest of the portrait in black and white.

Grabbing her bag and making sure her sketch book was inside it, Clarke left the warmth of her car and walked up to the Starbucks. Clarke remarked drolly in her head that she had been spending a lot of time here lately.

"Hey Pumpkin Spice!" Octavia greeted happily as Clarke walked in.

"Hey Octavia." Clarke smiled. "Can I get a peppermint mocha?"

"Sure thing. Grande OK?" Octavia asked, reaching for the cups.

"Better make it a venti, Sinclair has me on closing duty tonight." Clarke sighed and Octavia nodded.

"Sure thing. That's $5.25."

"So how's work today?" Clarke asked as she handed Octavia her change and moved over to the serving counter.

"It's pretty good. My brother has work tonight so he can't pick me up, looks like I'm walking it!" She said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. Clarke frowned.

"Do you want a ride? My shift doesn't start for and hour and half, two hours. I could drive you home when you get off before then." Clarke offered and Octavia's eyes lit up.

"Really? I get off in an hour! Are you sure you don't mind?" She asked, handing Clarke her coffee and Clarke shrugged.

"I don't have anywhere to be." Octavia beamed.

"Thanks Clarke. You're awesome!" Clarke laughed.

"Well I have to make sure you don't get frostbite on the way home. Otherwise who would make me my coffee?" She asked cheekily and Octavia stuck her tongue out at her.

"Meanie."

Clarke sat in the large comfy chairs by the window until Octavia finished her shift. She worked on the portrait until she was sure that there was no more that could be done to the picture. Clarke beamed happily at the portrait for a full minute. Rarely is an artist happy with their work, and her the bridge of her nose might have not been in perfect proportion to her eye brows, but Clarke knew when to call it quits so she didn't drive herself insane over things.

"Is that me?" A voice asked quietly and Clarke jumped.

"Jesus you scared me!" Clarke said trying to hide her blush, turning to look back Octavia stared wide eyed at the page.

"Did you draw me?" She asked in disbelief and Clarke shifted uncomfortable under her gaze.

"Yeah. I needed something to draw and you were here and I, uh, yeah I did." Clarke stuttered and Octavia gently took the picture out of Clarke's hands, still staring.

"It's amazing." She said quietly. "Clarke you made me look beautiful!" She exclaimed and Clarke rolled her eyes.

"I couldn't draw it if it wasn't there already." She said shrugging and Octavia lept up and grabbed her in a massive hug.

"Thank you. No one's ever told me that I'm pretty before. Well besides my brother but I don't think that he counts." She said into Clarke's hair and Clarke laughed.

"You aren't pretty. You're stunning." She smiled hugging her back.

"Now c'mon, what do you say we get you home?" Clarke offered and Octavia pulled back and nodded happily.

"You can tear it out and keep it if you want." Clarke said grabbing her bag and Octavia some how managed to break out into and even wider grin.

"Really? You have to sign it first then. So that when you become huge and famous I can have something to show off one day and say "I knew her way back when"!" Octavia teased and Clarke laughed, taking out a black pen and signing her first initial and her last name.

"Griffin?" Octavia asked as the pair walked out the door.

"Yep."

* * *

><p>"Ok so you just make a left here and it's the last town house on the right hand side." Octavia instructed as Clarke pulled into the Arcadia Complex. it was a nice little housing system made up of two floor homes. The many speed bumps, Clarke noted, she could do without.<p>

"Thanks so much for the picture Clarke. It truly is stunning." Octavia beamed and Clarke smiled.

"Sure thing Octavia." She waved.

"You can call me O, if, if you want. That's what Bell calls me sometimes." Octavia said shyly and Clarke giggled.

"Okay there O." She said warmly and Octavia grinned.

"See you later! You should come hang out sometime!" Octavia waved as she unlocked the door and walked inside her home. Clarke briefly spotted pale grey walls in the entry way of the home before Octavia shut the door. As she drove away she had the fleeting thought that the wreath on the door looked similar to the ones they sold at Sinclair's.

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><p><strong>Yaaaaaaay 6th chapter! from what I've read in the reviews everyone is liking the story so far and I'm really glad you all are finding it so interesting! I'm doing my best to write and I write chapters in advance in my third block class and usually post them whenever the mood is right so I hope that's OK for everyone. I'm never good with keeping a set day in the week to update things, just because i forget or get writers block or I'm just being lazy so I usually have 2 or 3 chapters written in advance.<strong>

**Please leave a review and I hope you guys liked this chapter. Bye! :)**


	7. Thirsty

Clarke sat bored at the counter. She had given her only project to Octavia and was debating on starting a new one when the door chimed.

"Hey Princess." A familiar voice said. Clarke groaned and dropped her head on the counter.

"What do you want now! I sold you the perfect advent wreath and you've already bough a replacement for the other one!" she moaned. She heard Blake smirk.

"Well third time is the charm in this case. I need another one." She looked up to see him slightly shifting, dark curls spilling into his eyes.

"What. Now?" She groaned and he smirked, running a hand through his hair.

"I need a pink one. This one was going to be a surprise for my sister's bedroom door." He mumbled. Clarke rolled her eyes. Clearly he was just trying to be nice and make this a nice Christmas for his sister, but honestly this was getting ridiculous.

"Look I get that you need Christmas decor, but honestly maybe you should consider Target. We have a few pink wreaths but they aren't a very nice pink. But we have a really pretty blue one with pink and green decorations on it?" She suggested and he rubbed his chin.

"Yeah that should be OK. She's got blue eyes." He said, more to himself than her. Hopping up she walked over to the wreath display she was considering re-designing after he left she grabbed the wreath from it's home on the shelf. These wreaths, in Clarke's opinion, were some of the prettiest in the store. The teal coloured wreath, complimented by sparkly green and magenta ornaments, was truly lovely. Much more feminine that the ugly dusty rose wreaths with oddly coloured yellow ornaments. Not gold, yellow.

"Here, I'm assuming that you didn't bring the other wreath to exchange for this one either right?" She asked irritably and he grinned.

"You got me Princess. Someday soon I'll remember to bring it in." Clarke groaned.

"Do it on a Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday. Those are my days off." She grumbled and he chuckled.

"I'll be sure to come in on Wednesday." Clarke rolled her eyes again. Handing him the machine he tapped his debit card and took the bag from her hand, fingers brushing slightly over hers.

"Well Princess it's been fun, but sadly I've got to depart." he said with a wink. Clarke snorted.

"Yeah, bye." She said with a wave of her hand sitting down and grabbing her sketchbook.

"Aw Princess you wound me."

"I hope so!" She called as he shut the door behind him, laughing his entire way out of the shop.

* * *

><p>The next day Clarke rose groggily out of bed. After the dealing with Blake, then an angry soccer mom that broke the head off an angel (Seriously what the hell was she doing to that poor tree?), Clarke decided that she needed a break. Getting up and having a shower, she threw on some clothes before tying her wet hair up in a ponytail.<p>

"Morning Picasso!" Raven chirped as Clarke exited her room. Rolling her eyes, Clarke grabbed out some cheerios and sat herself down at the breakfast bar.

"Mornin' Sunshine. What's on the agenda for today?" Raven grinned.

"I'm so glad you asked that Clarkey. _We_ are going _out_ tonight. Remember that cute mystery man? Well he invited us to his frat party tonight. So we are going to go get drunk, and dance with drunk college boys!" Raven said excitedly.

"Raven, you know I'm no good drunk. I'm a total mood killer. Besides, I've never even met this guy. You sure it's safe?" Clarke questioned.

"Of course it's safe Clarke! You'll be with me! Besides, you can meet him when I introduce you. He's really sweet I promise!" Raven begged and Clarke groaned.

"When do we leave?"

"Yay!" Raven jumped up, punching her fist in the air.

"We leave in an hour? I need to get ready too. Please tell me you left me some hot water." Raven said flipping her hair over her shoulder and heading to the bathroom. Clarke smirked. Raven was the one who took long showers, not Clarke.

* * *

><p>Pulling her sweater tighter across her chest Clarke shivered. She was not one for the cold. Cautiously stepping out of her car, she shot Raven a look, who simply shrugged in response. The drive to Campus had been alright, but Clarke could already tell she was going to hate these stupid blank ankle boots Raven had put her in. She didn't mind the black skinny jeans or her loose knit grey sweater, but these 4 inch heels would be the death of her.<p>

"Jesus Raven, I'm sure that you could've brought him to Ark to meet me." Clarke shivered. Raven laughed. Clarke had been bitching the whole drive about the weather.

"C'mon Clarke don't be like that. This is going to be fun!"

"Yeah, ok there. C'mon you've been seeing him what? A month? That's more than enough time to consider bringing him home, or at least letting him through the door." Raven rolled her eyes as she opened the door to the large frat house.

Clarke hated parties with a passion. Growing up all the "parties she had been to had been expensive debutante balls and other boring shit she didn't really care about. Then in high school they had been nothing but an excuse for over privileged brats to get drunk and have sex in their parents pool house. Wells had tried to be her date and make her feel a bit safer but the word 'party' still left a bitter taste in her mouth and she had a feeling that this party wouldn't be much better than the ones she attended in high school.

She was right.

Only now she didn't have Wells to comfort her. Raven had abandoned her to find her mystery guy and Clarke now found herself pressed against a wall trying desperately not to make eye contact with anyone.

"Hey there. Not liking the party scene?" A tall dark skinned boy asked. Clarke groaned internally. Great, human interaction.

"Not really." She responded looking away. The boy shifted.

"Could I get you a drink?" He asked and she shook her head.

"No but thanks. I'm just waiting for a friend." She answered and she heard a loud group of boys laughing and the two turned their heads.

"C'mon Connor!"

"She ain't interested!"

"_THIRSTYYYY_!" Rang our from the group and Clarke laughed slightly and the boy, Connor, shook his head.

"No harm in asking. Have a nice evening." He waved and Clarke smiled. She had not expected him to understand that no meant no, especially because he had been holding a drink himself. Maybe she had the wrong idea about the whole frat boys stereotype.

"Hey there Clarke. Looking for some fun?"

Maybe not.

"What the hell do you want?" She groaned and Finn smirked.

"I was on my way to rescue a princess from what looked like an horrifyingly awkward situation but the matter resolved itself. Now I'm standing here next to the prettiest girl in the room and I can't help but notice that she doesn't have a drink." He winked at her and Clarke sneered.

"One, Don't call me princess. Two, I don't drink. Three, even if I did, I wouldn't be accepting one from you." She growled and Finn laughed, _actually_ laughed. What a douche.

"Well then, I'm sure that I can convince you. C'mon, it's just one drink. You can even grab it yourself." He winked and she groaned.

"One drink. I pour it. When I'm done, you leave me the hell alone." Finn smirked.

"Deal."

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><p><strong>Blah. Sometimes I hate writing. I feel like I'm getting redundant and repetitive in my story so feel free to slap me if you think that's happening. Anyways leave me a review to let me know if you're enjoying the story so far. We're almost at 100 reviews! C'mon guys! ;)<strong>


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